Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) suggested Sunday that some Senate Democrats may be willing to use what’s known as the “nuclear option” to eliminate the need for Republican support to pass a bill to raise the debt limit and end the government shutdown.

Responding to a comment made earlier by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who noted that Senate Democrats have “several somethings” to help them prevent a U.S. default, Manchin said, “I would assume that they might be referring to the so-called nuclear option, if you have to use that basically to keep this country from falling into default.”

The nuclear option refers to a Senate rules change that would require ONLY 51 votes to end debate and call a measure to a vote,preventing the possibility of a Republican filibuster.